This invention relates to soft-serve freezers of the type used to manufacture and dispense products such as frozen custard, ice cream, ice milk and the like. In particular, the invention is concerned with providing control for minimizing electric power consumption, minimizing wear of moving parts and apprising the operator of the condition of the product so that it can be assuredly put in optimum consistency before it is served.
Generally, soft-serve freezers are comprised of a freezing cylinder that is charged with a suitable mix from a storage hopper. A motor driven auger is located concentrically within the cylinder and it serves to agitate and whip the mix during freezing and to force the mix out through a spigot when it is manually opened to dispense product.
Typically, soft-serve freezers are used to dispense an ice cream or custard mix which has a suitable consistency for being consumed as a ice cream cone or a sundae, for example. In retail outlets where such products are customarily sold, dispensation of product to customers may occur at high or low periodicity. However, the product must be available at a temperature and consistency that provides customer satisfaction when it is served.